Responsible Pet Ownership Blog

Category Archives: left gaze bias

The dictionary defines a myth as a belief or set of beliefs that are false or unproven. Facts and myths have a way of getting tangled up with each other and it’s hard to pull them apart. Dog myths can actually be harmful to the dogs if people believe them. In this article, I will set the record straight for six common dog myths.

If a dog is wagging his tail, he must be friendly. This common dog myth may garner a bite for those who believe it. Dogs wag their tails for different reasons. You can tell by a dog’s body language if he’s friendly. His tail is relaxed and straight out as he wags it, and he looks happy. A more aggressive or dominant dog will hold his tail up over his back and may be wagging only the very end of his tail. A playful dog will also hold his tail up over his back, but it’s swishing from side to side. A dog that’s submissive, afraid or anxious will have a tail that hangs down with a wag that seems uncertain, which is exactly how the dog is feeling. Never approach or pet a dog you aren’t familiar with until the dog has been given a chance to properly check you out.

When a dog does something wrong, they know they’re in trouble. They do know they’re in trouble, but not because of what they did. They haven’t a clue why we’re standing there yelling, waving our arms and getting red in the face. We may not be experts at reading a dog’s body language, but they are experts in reading ours. Plus, dogs can read our emotions on our face by what’s called a left gaze bias. In short, dogs read our moods just by looking at us. When a dog hangs his head and gives us those puppy dog eyes that say, “I’m sorry,” it has nothing to do with the torn up chair or scattered trash on the kitchen floor.You should never play tug of war games with your pet. This common dog myth will only deprive you and your dog from having fun. Tug of war is one of the more natural games for dogs to play. In the wild, wolves and wild dogs fight over their prey, and the one who wins the tug of war wins the food. A game of tug of war is a great way to teach your dog you’re the one in charge. You won, and that makes you leader of the pack in his eyes.

That dog just tried to bite me. This common dog myth gets canines in trouble all the time. If the dog had wanted to bite the hand next to his head, he would have. A dog’s reflex is much faster than ours. He only sent a warning shot across the bow that says to back off. Dogs snap to send a warning that “the next one will be the real McCoy and I won’t miss.” A snapping dog isn’t trying to bite, he’s just asking you to leave him alone because something is bothering him.

You should never allow your dog to growl. Dogs communicate in different ways with each other and us. Growls are one of the tools they use to signal to us, other dogs and even cats to leave them alone. A growl is a request to back off because something is bothering your dog and he’s uncomfortable. Give him space just like you’d want if there was something gnawing at you. There’s also nothing wrong with a playful growl during a game of catch or tug of war. It’s never wise to take a dog’s voice away because that’s his way of letting you know how he feels.

I can tell if my dog has a temperature by his nose. This is a very common dog myth. A dog’s nose can be dry and warm in the morning, and wet and cold when he gives you a sloppy kiss on the cheek an hour later. It’s normal for his nose to be one way or the other at different times of the day. The only way you can tell if your dog has a temperature is by taking it with a thermometer and yes, you have to do it using a digital rectal thermometer. Never take your dog’s temperature using a thermometer with mercury in it because sometimes it can be sucked inside the dog and break. Mercury can make the dog very sick. The normal average temperature for a dog is 101.5 degrees.

The personal opinions and/or use of trade, corporate or brand names, is for information and convenience only. Such use does not constitute an endorsement by CANIDAE® All Natural Pet Foods of any product or service. Opinions are those of the individual authors and not necessarily of CANIDAE® All Natural Pet Foods.

A recent study by a team of researchers at the University of Lincoln in England have found dogs can see our emotions more than what was once thought. In fact, dogs are unique among the animal kingdom as the only ones who can see and understand our emotions by looking at our face. Dogs have a left gaze bias and can see our emotions.

When we meet another person, our gaze normally scans the right side of their face, as long as they are in an upright position. The left side of our brain controls the right side of the body and the right side of the brain controls the left side. It’s the left hemisphere of the brain that controls how we show emotion which is displayed on the right side of our face. The left side of our face shows almost no emotion because the right side of the brain has a different function and doesn’t control our emotional state of mind. Looking at the right side of the face is called left gaze bias, or left face bias.

Our tendency is to look on the right side of the face for hints as to how someone is feeling or what their mood may be. We understand how someone is feeling by detecting clues on the right side of their face. We can usually tell right away if they are happy, sad or angry. It’s something we all do subconsciously. Somewhere along the line in our evolution, we began a left gaze bias to help us determine how another person is feeling.

The study done in the UK has determined that dogs can see our emotions the same way. Left gaze bias is used by humans only when we are looking at another person. It doesn’t hold true if we look at a painting, a pile of dirty laundry, a brand new car or other animals. Dogs are the same as we are in this bias, and so far the only animal that’s been found capable of actually seeing our emotions like other people can.

The researchers, lead by Dr. Kun Guo, studied 17 dogs. Each dog was shown photos of inanimate objects, monkey faces, human faces and dog faces while being videotaped. The dog’s eye and head movements were the focus of the tape. When the researchers watched the tape, they discovered all of the dogs had eye and head movements toward the left side of the face (left gaze bias) only when shown human faces. They concluded that dogs have a strong left gaze bias when looking at human faces.

It’s believed dogs evolved and developed left gaze bias and can see our emotions because of their long association with us. Dogs learned centuries ago to read our emotions by looking at the left side of our face. The interesting thing about this study is it looks like dogs are one up on us. When the researchers flipped the pictures of human faces over, the dogs were able to distinguish the difference and still showed the same strong left gaze bias. When we look at an upside down face, we lose our left gaze bias altogether.

If you have a dog in the house, try it yourself. Watch your dog’s eyes when they look at you. It may be a subtle eye shift to the right, but it is true; they do scan the right side of your face first. So the next time you scold your dog or you are sad because you didn’t get that promotion at work, your dog probably does know you are angry or sad even though he won’t understand why.

When you factor in a dog’s knowledge of body language along with a left gaze bias, it’s possible your dog understands more than you know. When he tucks his tail between his legs before you start yelling at him for tearing up the pillows on the couch, he really does know he is in trouble. Forget the yelling and just let it go. The pillows can be replaced but your best friend needs all the love you can give him because he will be there when no one else is, and can tell when you are feeling angry, sad or happy.

The personal opinions and/or use of trade, corporate or brand names, is for information and convenience only. Such use does not constitute an endorsement by CANIDAE® All Natural Pet Foods of any product or service. Opinions are those of the individual authors and not necessarily of CANIDAE® All Natural Pet Foods.

ethos

Disclaimer

The personal opinions and/or use of trade, firm, corporation or brand names, in this blog is for the information and convenience of the reader. Such use does not constitute an official endorsement or approval by CANIDAE® Natural Pet Food Company of any product or service to the exclusion of others that may be suitable. All opinions in this blog are those of the individual authors and not necessarily of CANIDAE® Natural Pet Food Company.